Trinity, Utc Begin Joint Education Initiative

October 12, 1995|By LAURA C. MARKS; Courant Correspondent

At Trinity College, there are more women and minorities majoring in science and engineering than at the average American university. But that hasn't stopped the college from trying to increase their numbers.

Trinity College and United Technologies Corp. started a five-year effort Wednesday to attract more female and minority high school students to science and engineering.

The United Technologies/Trinity College Engineering Initiative is funded with a $300,000 grant from United Technologies. The program took planning as well as money. Ken Green, UTC's director of contributions, said Trinity first approached him about the program two years ago.

The effort is an attempt to help reverse a nationwide decline in engineers and scientists.

``In many ways, it's a defining moment for the future of engineering and science in our country,'' said Trinity College President Evan Dobelle.

``Just to maintain present numbers [of scientists and engineers], the number of ethnic minorities [in those fields] must rise from the present level of 25 percent to 75 percent in 40 years,'' said project director Christine Broadbridge, an associate professor of engineering and computer science at Trinity.

By spring, Trinity College students, faculty and alumni who work at United Technologies will be mentors for about 20 sophomores and juniors from seven Greater Hartford high schools.

Through an application process, students will be selected from Bulkeley, Hartford Public and Weaver high schools in Hartford; Kingswood-Oxford School and Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford; and Bloomfield and East Hartford high schools. More schools are expected to become involved in subsequent years of the initiative.

``We're looking for an awful lot of character . . . but brain power has to be there,'' said Richard Caley, head of Kingswood-Oxford's science department.

Hartford Public chemistry teacher Raymond Cocola said science students at his school are already involved with the Connecticut Pre- Engineering Program. However, Cocola said, the funding available through the United Technologies/Trinity initiative helps ensure the program's success.

Students involved in the UTC/Trinity initiative will participate in on-campus workshops and work on individual science projects. They will communicate with their mentors through an electronic network.

Both educators and science professionals saw the initiative as a good investment. They hope that high school students who participate in the program will become engineering and science majors.

``We hope that some day those people will come to work at United Technologies,'' said Bill Bucknall, UTC's senior vice president of human resources and organization. ``It's self-interest, but enlightened self-interest nonetheless. UTC is a company that depends on engineering and science for its success.''

Already, 30 percent of Trinity's engineering and science majors are women or minorities, Broadbridge said. The national average is below 20 percent, she said.

``We're proud of our record of attracting and maintaining women and minority engineering students,'' Broadbridge said.

Monica Krasinski, a senior preliminary design engineer at UTC's Hamilton Standard Division, said 30 Trinity alumni, including her, are working at UTC.